Sawmill



Aug. 20,; 1929.

R. H. ORR

SAWMILL Filed uabv s, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet l S14/manioc /Poae/rr H. OPI?Aug. 20, 1929. R` H, QRR 1,725,295

SAWMILL Filed May, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 20, 1929.

R. H. ORR

sAwuILL Filed May 3, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR. /Poeg/QT 09A?TTORNL'YS.

Aug. 2o, 1929. R. H. @RR 1,725,295A

SAWMILL Filed May 3, 1926 5 sheets-sheet 4 R. H. ORR

Aug. 20, 1929. I

SAWMILL Filed May 3, 1926 5 Sheets--SheekI 5 :gl-avente Pass/w- H. 0m:

Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES ROBERT H. OBR, OF WEOTT, CALIFORNIA.

\ SAWMILL.

Application filed May 3, 1926.

My invention relates particularly to sawmills of the type used forsawing railroad ties.

All band mills and sawmills in use at present, waste much motion and ienergy, mainly because they require two engines, one to haul the log,the other for driving the saw. These old type sawmills are good only forsawing the good lumber off the logs, but can not be profitably adaptedfor cutting railroad ties or make use of the large quantities ofmaterial of inferior quality that remains from the logs after sawing olfthe good lumber.

My invention eliminates said waste, because it has only one engine; itdoes not move the log against the saw, but advances the saw against thelog, thus eliminating the waste of motion and energy. It is lighter thanthe old type and more easily transportable.

My invention provides means for cutting timber of any size. It can beused for -cultting railroad ties out of the lumber that is wasted atpresent.

Instead of large, heavy band saws of the old type, in my sawmill smallcircular saws are used efficiently. My invention performs two cuts atright angles to each other, in one, almost continuous operation. Byusing this method all vertical grain can be taken out of the timber forflooring.

The advantages over the old type band and saw mills are achieved by theinstrumentalities described in the following specification and definedin the claims, and illustrated in the drawings of which Figure 1 is aside elevation of the sawmill.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a top plan View of the same.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section taken through the line 4-4 of Figure2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section taken through line 5*5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section taken through line 6 6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary section through line 8-8 of Figure 4.

The sawmill is supported on stationary frame 9. Two parallel rods 10 and11 are disposed on each side of frame 9. On the rods 10 and 11 riderollers 12, which in turn are journalled in shoes 13 which latter SerialNo. 106,481.

support movable frame 14. Front members 15, 15 of movable frame 14 serveas guides for flanged sleeves 16 and 17, the sleeves being so designedthat they provide bearing for mechanisms described later. A stand 18 forthe operator is fastened to sleeve 17.

A shaft 19 is disposed at one eXtreme end of the stationary frame 9, andis supported in bearings 20, as shown in Figure 3. Power is transmittedto this shaft by any conventional means. A pulley 2l transmits power toa pulley 22 by means of a belt 25. Pulleys 22 and 23 are fastened to ashaft 30. The pulley 23 transmits power toa pulley 24 by means of a belt26. Pulley 24 is mounted on shaft 27 Which is supported on bearings insleeves 16 and 17. A link 28 is pivoted on shafts 19 and 30, while alink 29 is pivoted on shafts 27 and 30. When moving the movable frametowards and away from the shaft 19, the angularity between the links 2 8and 29 will be changed, which action makes it possible to change thedistance between the shafts 19 and 27 Without changing the relativeposition of the shaft 19 to the stationary frame 9, or the relativeposition of the shaft 27 to the movable frame 14. Power is transmittedfrom the shaft 27 to a pulley 31 which is fastened to the shaft 27 by afeather key, the shaft 27 having a long slot 93 so that the pulley 31can slide laterally on the shaft 27. A belt transmits power from thepulley 31 to the pulley 32 and shaft 33. A pulley 34 on shaft 33transmits the power through a belt to pulley 35, vertically disposedshaft 36 and to a horizontally disposed circular saw 37 mounted on theshaft 36.

A pulley 38 on shaft 33 transmits power through a belt to pulley 39,shaft 40 and to a vertically disposed saw 41, as shown in F igure's 2and 3. V-shaped lslides 43 and 44 are adapted to slide transversely onV- shaped guides and 46, said guides being Xedly supported on thesleeves 16 and 17, as cleai'ly shown in Figure 6. The shaft 36 issupported in bearings in a frame 42 which is pivotally connected at 47and 48 respectively to the V-shaped slides 43 and 44, as shown inFigures 2 and 3. Vert-ical members 49, 50 and 51 support the shaft 33,and these members are parts of the V-shaped slides 43 and 44. Shaft 52is supported on the vertical plates or members 50 and 51.

. which are fixed on the sleeves 16 and 17 respectively. The rod 57 isextended downward, as shown at 60, and held in place by a spring 61. Adog 62 is so placed on the frame 9 that when the frame 14 moves towardthe shaft 19,'the dog 62 forces the extension to the position shown indotted lines in Figure 1, thereby through the vertical extension 56raises the frame 53 around the pivot 52, thus disengaging the circularsaw 41, also through the link 55 and the horizontal extension 54 moveslaterally the frame 42 around the pivots 47 and 48, thereby engaging thecircular saw 37. The dog` 63 is so placed on the frame 9 that when thervframe 14 moves away from the shaft 19, the dog 63 forces the extension60 back to the full line position shown in Figure 1, thereby loweringand engaging the saw 41 and laterally disengaging the saw 37. rl`he disk64 is fastened on the shaft 27 at the end nearest to the operatorsstand. The disk 64 is in frictional connection with the disk wheel 65'fastened on a. vertically disposed shaft 66 by a feather key 67, theshaft 66 being supported in bearings 68 and 69 on the frame 14. The diskwheel 65 is supported on a slidable housing 70, said housing beingpivotally connected to a lever 71 which is pivotally connected to abracket 72, which bracket is fixedly attached to the sleeve 17.

A drum 73 is attached to the lower end of the shaft 66 carrying a rope74. Pulleys 75 on the four corners of the frame 9 guide the rope 74, theends of said ropes being passed through sheaves 76 and 77 which areattached to the shoe 13 of the movable frame 14. The disk 64 is hollowon one side so as to enclose clutch mechanism, as shown in Figure 4. Theclutch mechanism comprises a friction wheel 78 which is fastened to theshaft 27. Friction wheels 79 and 80 fasten Vto shafts 81 and 82respectively, said shafts 81 and 82 being connected to shafts 83 and 84respectively by means of universal joints. A bell crank lever 86 pivotedat 87 is connected to the shaft 81. A lever 88 pivoted at 87 isconnected with a bell crank lever 89 by means of a link 90, the bellcrank lever 89 being pivoted at 91 and connected to the shaft 82.

The shaft 83 is supported on bearings in sleeves 16 and 17, said shaft83V being threaded. A nut 92 threadedly engages the shaft 83 and isfastened von the vertical -member 49 of slides 43 and 44. A rack 93 isfastened to the member 49. The shaft 84 is Vwise direction.

supported on bearings in the sleeves 16 and 17. A bevel gear 94 is keyedto the shaft 84. Gears 95 and 96 are fastened to the shaft 84 and meshwith teeth on the guide members 15 and 15 respectively. Lateral movingof the saws effects movement of the mechanism which includes the rack 93which meshes with a gear 97, this gear being fastened to a sleeve 98,said gear 97, and said sleeve 98 being` freely rotatable on a shaft 99.An arm 100 on the sleeve 98 limits the motion of the gear by beingblocked by pin 101 which pin may be manually set in one of thecircularly placed holes of a plate 102. Plates 102 and 103 lare parts ofthe bracke 104 which is fastened to the sleeve 17. The bevel gear 94meshes with bevel gear 105. The bevel gear 105 is fastened to 'the shaft99 which is angularly placed and supported in the bracket 104 so as toenable the operator on the stand 18 to reach and adjust pins 101 and 106on the circular plates 102 and 103 respectively. A sleeve 107 is keyedto the shaft 99. An arm 108 on the sleeve 107 is blocked by the pin 106at a preadjusted position, thereby limiting the motion of the gears andthe vertical motion of the saws.

My sawmill operates as follows: Power is applied to the shaft 19 and istransmitted to the shaft 27 and disk 64 as described. ln neutralposition the operator moves the lever 71 which being pivoted to thebracket 72 will move through the sleeve connected to the housing as itraises the housing 70 and the disk 65. Friction between the movableparts will prevent movement until the parts are manually operated. N henthe disk 65 is at the center of the disk 64, no power is transmitted tothe shaft 66. The log to be cut is clamped by any conventional means tothe stationary frame in the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.

rihe operator adjusts the pin 106 so as to limit the depth of cut, andadjust the pin 101 so as to limit theV width of cut. lVhen power isapplied the disk 64 rotates in clocklVhen the operator raises the lever71 above the center of trie disk 64, the disk wheel 65 rotatescounter-clockwise, and said disk wheel will rotate the drum 73counter-clockwise.4 The drum 73 winds the rope, exerts a pull on thesheave 76 and releases the sheave 77 the shoe 13 is forced to move onthe rollers 12 on the rod 10 toward the shaft 19. The power transmissionis nothindered by this motion, because the links 28 and 29 will changetheir angularity around the pivoted shaft 30. The extension 60 of therod 57 hits against the dog 62 which forces the extension 60 into theposition shown in 'dotted lines, thereby lowering the horizontal saw 37and moving it into cutting position, while Vraising and dis'engaging thevertical saw 41.

The operator then lowers the lever 71 and adjusts the disk wheel 65 toany distance under the center of the disk 64, thereby advancing themovable frame at an adjusted speed away from the shaft 19.

The dotted line position in Figure 1 shows the movable frame and thesaws advanced to almost the end of the cut. lVhen the rod extension hitsthe dog 63, the extension will be forced into the position shown in fulllines, thereby engaging the vertical saw 41 and disengaging thehorizontal saw 37. Then by raising the lever 71 and the disk above thecenter of the disk 64, the motion of the frame 14 and the direction ofthe cut is reversed. These two right angle cuts complete the operationand saw off a railroad tie, or other pie-ce of lumber.

The friction wheel 79 in neutral position does not touch either theinside periphery of t-he disk 64 or the outside periphery of thefriction wheel 78. By moving the lever 86 gear 79 will be brought intocontact with the disk 78, it will rotate the shaft 83, thereby movingthe nut 92, plate 49, and slides 43 and 44 on the guides 45 and 46. therack 93 moving with the slides will rotate the gear 97 and sleeve 98until the arm -100' hits the pin 101 when the friction wheels 78 and 79will slip. The operator can also manually disengage the friction wheels78 and 79 when the circular saws reach laterally the desired width ofthe cut.

The friction wheel 80 is engaged with the friction wheel 78, or the disk64 by the lever 88, link 90 and crank lever 89. The shaft 84 rotates thegears 95 and 96, said gears moving on the rack part of the guides 15 and15. Raising or lowering the sleeves 16 and 17 and all mechanismsupported on said sleeves, therebv raising or lowering the circularsaws.

The shaft 84 also rotates the gear 94, gear 105, shaft 99, sleeve 107,arm 108 until said arm is stopped by the pin` 106. This motion also canbe manually regulated by disengaging the friction wheel 80 through lever88 when the circular saws are adjusted to the desired depth of cut. Y

The dogs 62 and 63 may be adjusted to any length of cut by moving themto another point on the stationary frame.

Although I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, itis to be understood that the same is susceptible of various changes; andI reserve the right to employ such as may come within the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sawmill a saw-carrying frame so mounted with reference to thework that one is movable with respect to the other for making a saw cut,a pair of saws carried by said frame and having their cutting planesextending transversely to each other, means controlled by the relativetravel of the saw frame and work to make the saw cut, for automaticallymoving one of said sawsinto cutting position and the other intoinoperative position before the saw enters the work in one direction andfor reversing said position of said saws when the travel relative to thework is reversed.

2. In a sawmill, a frame so mounted with reference to the work that oneshall be movable with reference to the other to make a saw cut, a pairof saws having their cutting planes extending transversely of eachother, a saw-carrying frame supporting said saws and beingmovable in twodirections, each transverse to said first named frame for adjustment ofthe saws, but in the plane of the operation of one or the otherrespectively of the saws, and means'for simultaneously moving one ofsaid saws into cutting position and the other out of cutting position.

3. In a sawmill, a frame so mounted with reference to the work that oneshall be movable with reference to the other to make a saw out, a pairof saws having their cutting planes extending transversely of eachother, a saw-carrying frame supporting said saws and being movable intwo directions, each transverse to said first named frame for adjustmentof the saws, but in the plane of the operation of one of Vthe saws,means for simultaneously moving one of said saws into cutting positionand the other out of cutting position, and means for limiting themovement of said saw-carrying frame into adjusted position.

4. In a sawmill, a frame so mounted with reference to the work that oneshall be movable with reference to the other to make a saw cut, a pairof saws having their cutting planes extending transversely to eachother, a frame for supporting both -saws and being movable in twodirections, each transverse to the first named frame but in the plane ofthe operation of one or the other respectively of the saws, means forcausing relative movement by said first-named frame and the work forcausing the saws to cut from end to end of the work, means forsimultaneously moving said saws one into operative position and theother into inoperative position during one relative movement of the workwith respect to said first named frame and vice versa during theopposite movement of the work, and manually controlled means for movingsaid saw-carrying frame for adjusting said saws to cut at differentplaces.

ROBERT H. ORR.

